§One very bumpy balloon ride later…§

"Home sweet home!" Flynn shouted as he docked the balloon on the island, hopped over its side and stretched out.

Spyro flew up to get a view of the island—and his jaw dropped. There was wreckage everywhere, from piles of rubble to singed grass to destroyed books and other things, all looking hopeless and despondent. Overgrown vines and thorns that radiated with evil energy popped up in large patches, and everything looked like it was in chaos, which was maybe a little too appropriate for the situation at hand.

"THIS IS ANCIENT'S PEAK?!" Spyro shouted, his pupils dilated from shock.

"I'm afraid so, Spyro," Hugo said as he the balloon and joined Spyro. "It was left in quite a mess after your last battle. We've done the best we can to restore it, but it's been a bigger task than we anticipated."

Gill Grunt, who had amazingly enough fallen asleep on the balloon ride there, woke up and stumbled out of the basket. "Hey, what's everyone goin' on about—HOLY SMOKES!" Gill Grunt exclaimed before his face fell. "This is what happened while we were gone?"

Hugo nodded with a frown as he faced Gill Grunt.

Gill Grunt's frown lasted for a couple minutes more, then turned into a determined smile as he grabbed his harpoon cannon and cocked it.

"Well, before we do anything else, we've got some repairing to do!"

Gill Grunt then rushed off near the brambles and shot them with harpoons, which cut them in half and sent then withering away into the ground, never to be seen again—hopefully.

"Gill Grunt does have a point," Hugo said. "Before we can do anything, we need to clean things up here so we can have a decent base of operations."

"Just leave that up to us, Hugo, We'll have this place cleaned in no time!" Spyro exclaimed as he flew off and set the brambles on fire.

Chihiro observed the scene before her, before she smiled a maybe too eager smile and grabbed two of the Skylanders by the bases of their figurines. "Y'know guys, they're gonna need a lot of help," Chihiro said with a wink. "Ready to go home?"

A chorus of cheers and agreement resonated among the crowd, while Chihiro only gave off a determined smile.

"Operation Repair the Ruins is go!"

And with that said, she slammed Skylanders two-by-two onto the portal. As she did this, the portal slowly expanded to accommodate the growing amount of figures on its surface. Meanwhile, more Skylanders appeared on the screen, and each one immediately went to help clean up the island in any way they could. Some destroyed unwanted weeds and rubble, others magically repaired broken objects, and some simply rearranged and collected objects that had been strewn about. Plenty started conversations with each other or directed each other on what to do, which made a cozy atmosphere fall over the world in spite of the rubble and wreckage that remained still.

Chihiro smiled as she placed the last Skylander necessary on the portal and went back to the couch to watch. Everything felt so peaceful after that hectic first mission back home, and time seemingly slowed to a crawl… That is, until the lights around her flickered and flashed.

"That doesn't sound good," Chihiro remarked to herself, "I hope it isn't a power outage."

Unfortunately Chihiro tempted fate and lost, because shortly after, the TV zapped off, as did the lights and everything else around her! Chihiro's expression turned panicked as she frantically pressed the power button on a nearby remote control.

"Turn on, turn on, please turn on!" Chihiro begged as her eyes dashed fifty ways to Sunday around the living room.

But alas, it was to no avail—the TV still remained blank.

"NONONONONONONONONONONONONO!" Chihiro dashed off and flickered the light switches in vain hopes that it would give the power a jumpstart, but nothing worked. "NONONONO IT CAN'T GO OUT NOW, THEY STILL NEED ME!"

In those few frantic moments, Chihiro tried everything she could think of to revive her electricity. Messing with the lights, pressing buttons, jumping around and cursing the electrical companies, just about anything that came to her young mind, she attemped! However, no matter how many times she flicked switches, toyed with machines and panicked, it was no use—the electricity was still dead and gone, as was her link to the Skylanders.

"I need to find some way to get back in touch with them, but HOW!?" Chihiro paced in a circle while she tugged on her hair. "The power's out and who knows when it's gonna come back on, but I don't have any other way to keep in touch with them! What am I—"

Chihiro turned around and laid eyes on the portal, which still glowed in all sorts of colors arranged in a rainbow-esque array. Just then, the portal glowed even more than it usually did, which was saying something! It was so colorful, so bright, so magical it almost drew her in… As she noted the bright colors, Chihiro's eyes sparkled and her expression turned as bright as the rainbow of lights before her.

"I know what I'll do—I'll just send myself there!" Chihiro shouted as she grabbed the portal off of her console and dropped it on the floor.

With a gulp, Chihiro grabbed the stone sides of the portal as hard as she could. As she envisioned the island's ruins, Chihiro screwed her eyes shut and focused—on the island, on her friends, on Skylands, anything that could bring her to them.

Please let this work…

Chihiro opened her eyes and smiled widely, because there, on the portal's surface, was the Skylanders' island! And sure enough, the Skylanders still worked away as they did before the power went out!

"Skylands here I come!"

Chihiro jumped straight on top of the portal, and her feet promptly slipped through the portal’s surface!

"Wait, what!?" Chihiro exclaimed as the rest of her body slowly followed. "Guys, someone, HELLLLLLPPPPPP—"

And just like that, she was gone. The portal stopped glowing and returned to its normal size. Now, it laid innocuously on the floor while everything went silent all around the room in an almost eerie way.

§

Meanwhile, back in Skylands, Spyro and Gill Grunt observed the other Skylanders as they finished their work. With their help, work went along fairly smoothly—and while it wasn't perfect, almost everything necessary for their jobs returned to a state of usability.

"Now THAT'S much better. Now we have an actual base to work with," Spyro said as he smelled the fresh air and smiled.

"And since that's been dealt with," Hugo said as he popped up behind Spyro. "What were those important issues you had to discuss with me?"

"Hugo!" Spyro shot Hugo a dark look, "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Sorry," Hugo apologized as he stepped back and adjusted his glasses.

Spyro took a deep breath and gathered his thoughts. After a few moments spent pondering ominously, Spyro cleared his throat.

"Okay, so, I talked with the guy who ruled over the island we saved earlier."

"And?"

Spyro recounted his earlier conversation with the mabu king to Hugo before he took a breath. "And judging from what he said, I'm fairly certain that Kaos had the Eternal Air Source."

"WHAT?!" Hugo jumped back slightly before he stood straight and adjusted his jacket. "Well, that would explain those strange tornadoes."

"And if he has it, it's very likely that he has the other components of the Core as well. The only question is, where is he hiding them?"

Hugo looked over to the side of the island, where a large, mechanical telescope was set up.

"Well, we could use the Far-Viewer, given that it can tap into the location of basically any magical artifact or power source in existence, but…" Hugo trailed off and made an awkward frown.

"But what?" Spyro tilted his head.

"Cali's the only one who knows how to use it, and well, she's been gone for a week."

"Of course." Spyro sighed as he let his head slump for moments before he stood tall once more. "Then we'll just have to find her. Do you know where she went last?"

"If I recall correctly, she went to Perilous Pastures to investigate a strange magical disturbance last I heard of her."

Spyro took to the skies and looked over to where Flynn gushed over his newly-repaired balloon. A smile broke out across his face and reveal his sharp, white fangs—time for some action!

"Then off to Perilous Pastures we go!| Spyro announced.” Gill, you're coming with me, right?" Spyroas he turned back and watched Gill Grunt nod his scaly head. "I'll make arrangements with Flynn about getting us there."

"And I'll see if I can get the Far-Viewer working by myself.” Hugo said as he grinned back at Spyro. “Good luck!"

Spyro and Gill Grunt dashed off to talk with Flynn, and in mere moments afterwards, boarded Flynn's balloon before they sailed off.

Hugo then heaved a sigh and adjusted his lapel, his expression gone from a reassuring smile to a solemn frown.

"Oh Master Eon, I wish you were still here. Maybe you could help me make some sense of this." Hugo paused and bit his lip, "I'm glad to have the Skylanders back, but without you I feel like we'll never be able to defeat Kaos! If only another portal master was here to guide us…"

Hugo looked up to the skies, and his eyes shrank as a bright white blur shot down from the stratosphere with a path towards the island!

"WHAT IN SKYLANDS IS THAT?!"

Hugo dashed out of the way while the object plowed into the grass with a blinding flash of light. When the light cleared, he peered out and found a medium-sized crater dug into the ground where he was once stood.

"Glad I got out in time." Hugo watched as somebody staggered up from the crater with a moan and jumped once more. "W-w-w-whoever you are, stay back! I know basic magic and I'm not afraid to use it!"

"Where am I?" asked a childlike voice.

Just then, a human child with pale skin, brown monolid eyes, a large, flat nose, and black hair with spiky bangs that dressed in all white, gray and black clothes stumbled out of the crater and passed out onto the grass.

Hugo panted heavily, but when he noticed that the person was of no harm to him, he bent down and turned them over. Thankfully, he found that they were fast asleep.

"Hugo, is everything alright? I heard some kind of—" Whirlwind asked as she flew over to meet Hugo before she took notice of the unconscious person beside him and leaped a foot higher, "CHIHIRO!"

"You know this person?" Hugo asked as he looked up at Whirlwind.

"She's the portal master we found on the other place, Earth." Whirlwind fixed her eyes on Chihiro. "But what's she doing here?"

"Whatever she is, she just fell out of the sky!"

"Fell out of the sky?" Whirlwind shook her head and narrowed her brows. "You can give me the explanation later. For now, we need to make sure she's not seriously hurt. Is the infirmary still intact?"

"Thankfully, yes."

"Then come on, help me get her set up there."

§

Chihiro groaned a tired groan as she looked up, her vision blurred beyond belief.

"I think she's waking up!" shouted a nasally voice as what looked like a brown mole pressed a paw against her forehead. "Are you alright, Chihiro?"

Chihiro's vision finally cleared and she recognized him as Hugo! She breathed a gentle sigh as she rubbed her eyes.

"I dunno? My head kinda hurts, and I can barely stay awake, but I made it to Skylands so that's good," Chihiro mumbled when she was hit by a piercing headache.

As she let out a yelp, Chihiro hung her head in her hands and moaned weakly.

"What's wrong?!" Hugo exclaimed as he jumped back himself. "Evil curse?! Forbidden magic?! A fever?"

Chihiro looked back at Hugo with a sharp pain in the right side of her head and tiny tears formed in the corners of her eyes. "Headache."

Hugo regained his composure and nodded.

"I'm sure we have something for that. Now stay here while I go check our medicine cabinet."

And with that said, Hugo raced off.

Hours seemed to pass as she waited, and during that time Chihiro looked around and gained an idea of her surroundings. She sat on a fluffy, white mattress with pastel peach and red plaid blankets and pillows with peach-colored pillowcases. The floors were made of white tile, and the walls were peach in color with diamond-patterned wallpaper. To her side was a brown cabinet with a white sheet of paper taped onto it, and to the right was another cabinet with all sorts of potions and medicine bottles arranged neatly. For an infirmary, it sure seemed fairly warm and friendly.

"I'm finally here…" Chihiro whispered with a serious grasp of her situation, "I'M HERE!"

And with that, she tossed the covers off of her person, swung out of bed… And found herself face-to-face with a very surprised and slightly irritated Whirlwind.

"Chihiro!" Whirlwind shouted as she watched Chihiro stumble back out of surprise.

"Whirlwind! What are you doing here?" Chihiro asked.

Whirlwind pressed a flash of pinkish-purple liquid into Chihiro's open palm. "It's a potion for relieving headaches. Hugo asked me to give it to you since some other business came up."

"Ooooh." Chihiro made an understanding nod.

Whirlwind cleared her throat and stared darkly at Chihiro. "Now, how in the name of the Ancient Elementals did you get here?!"

Chihiro whimpered and skittered back on all fours, fear on her face. As she looked up and expected an even more furious Whirlwind, her face fell when she found that Whirlwind's expression had softened instead.

"I'm sorry for raising my voice at you." Whirlwind sat next to Chihiro and wrapped a feathery wing around Chihiro's shoulders. "But I am very concerned about how you got here. So, can you explain how?"

Chihiro gulped and cleared her throat, before she nervously glanced at Whirlwind once more. "Well, there was a power outage where I was at, and the TV went out and I couldn't see you guys anymore, and I got really worried so I used to portal to send myself here and check on you guys!"

Whirlwind's jaw dropped and her eyes nearly bulged out of her head.

"Did I do a bad?" Chihiro curled into a ball and looked away from Whirlwind once more.

"CHIHIRO!" Whirlwind grasped Chihiro's shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. "PORTAL MASTERS SHOULD NEVER USE PORTALS ON THEMSELVES, IT CAN CAUSE SERIOUS DISRUPTIONS IN THE MAGICAL CONTINUITY! IT'S A MIRACLE YOU MADE IT HERE IN ONE PIECE!"

Chihiro winced, scuttled back anxiously and avoided Whirlwind's gaze, her head burrowed into her knees. As Whirlwind took a deep breath, Chihiro looked up again and watched as Whirlwind gently nudged her shoulder once more.

"Forgive me for yelling, but it's true. You could have seriously gotten hurt, and even if you didn't, who knows where you could've ended up!" Whirlwind looked Chihiro straight in the eye as a concerned frown fell over her face. "Promise me you'll never do something like that again?"

Chihiro regained her composure before she nodded quietly, her eyes focused on the floor rather than Whirlwind herself.

"And on top of that, we have no way to send you home! For all you know, you could be stuck here forever!" Whirlwind exclaimed.

"I'd be okay with that," Chihiro mumbled before her eyes sparkled and she jumped back to her feet. "Besides, now I can help you guys defeat Kaos!"

"What?"

"Well, you guys need the help of a portal master to defeat him, right? And now that I'm here—"

The end of Chihiro's sentence cut off from everyone's ears as the door slammed open! Chihiro raised a brow as Spyro stood straight in the hallway and stared right at her and Whirlwind, his eyes raw with shock and his front paws clenched.

"Hugo told me what happened as soon as I got back," Spyro shouted, "Chihiro, how in Skylands did you get here?!"

Chihiro and Whirlwind both gave him a tired look.

"I'll fill you in," Whirlwind sighed as she leaned over and whispered the summary into Spyro's ear.

"WHAT!?" Spyro shouted, now finally caught up on the situation as he scrambled back, then looked at Chihiro and furrowed his brow. "Chihiro, you should NEVER, and I mean NEVER—"

"I already told her, Spyro, you can calm down."

Spyro only nodded and shut up. The three of them sat in an awkward circle of tension and piercing silence, with nobody really eager to talk again.

"So, if we're all here and all," Chihiro said as she teased her hair. "Then now I can propose my ingenious—"

"That'll have to wait, Chihiro," Spyro said as he flew in place. "Now that we've brought Cali back, Hugo wants me to check out the Far-Viewer so we can find the Eternal Air Source. Whatever idea you have, it'll have to wait until after the next mission."

And with that said, Chihiro pouted and watched as Spyro flew off. Whirlwind, meanwhile, gave Chihiro a silent, sympathetic look before she followed him.

Chihiro took a peek at the flask still in her hand, before she uncorked the bottle and downed the potion in one large gulp. Of course, this wasn't a wise idea as it tasted awful. While she gagged and choked, the throbbing pain from her headache subsided till it was little more than a dull ring, and soon, nothing at all! Chihiro corked the bottle back up before she tossed it on her bed. With a smile, she dashed out of the room and into the hallway without a moment of hesitation—after all, her big adventure started right now!

§

Outside, Spyro, Gill Grunt, Whirlwind, Hugo, Flynn, and Cali all gathered into a cluster around the Far-Viewer. In the center was Cali, who fiddled around with the controls on the panel in front of the machine in an utter focused trance.

"Okay, add a bit of this, press a few buttons, and now turn this knob and… Done!" Cali said as she stepped back from the machine and stretched her arms. She was a caracal-like mabu with dusty orange fur decorated with brown stripes, pointed ears, emerald eyes, and a slender-built body. She wore a red tank top, a brown belt and half-skirt over tan trousers, and brown boots and gloves with golden buckles.

"Thank you, Cali," Hugo said as he fixated his vision on the Far-Viewer, his mind oblivious to the noise of the crowd that chattered among themselves.

While all this went on, Chihiro sneaked her way in and tried to hide herself behind the bodies of this small, oblivious crowd. This only failed as she lost her train of vision, accidentally bumped into someone and stumbled back onto the grass.

"What was that?" Flynn asked before he stopped himself as he saw Chihiro.

"Frick, so much for stealth," Chihiro whispered.

Flynn chuckle and offer her a bulky hand. "You need a hand, kiddo?"

Chihiro quietly nodded and took his hand. With the boost from his strength, she bolted back up with a small jump and poked her head over the small crowd that surrounded this strange machine.

"A-ha! There it is! The Eternal Air Source!" Hugo exclaimed as he looked into the Far-Viewer, then zoomed in further with a frown formed on his face. "But something seems wrong. Like, it's… possessed."

"What on Skylands are you talking about, Hugo?" Cali asked as she joined him where he was at.

"It seems like it's been infected with Kaos's magic. It's creating huge tornadoes everywhere it goes, and I'm getting strong readings of wicked magic from the Far-Viewer!" Hugo peered up at Cali as his eyebrows tensed.

Meanwhile, the Far-Viewer sent out a tiny probe that created a magical holographic map for all to see.

"I'd recognize that architecture anywhere—that's the Stormy Stronghold!" Cali exclaimed as she glazed over the holographic map.

"Then I guess I know where we're going!" Flynn exclaimed as he turned around and made his way back to his balloon.

But before he could reach it, Cali grabbed him by the back of his jacket.

"Not so fast, Flynn," Cali scolded as she turned Flynn around to face her. "That's one of the biggest Drow strongholds in Skylands, and it's filled with humongous tornadoes at that. Going there without proper preparations would be a death sentence!"

Flynn flushed red for mere moments, before he regained his composure and knocked a hand against his chest. "Sure, that's what I was going to say!"

Cali rolled her eyes as she let go of Flynn and watched him examine the twisters for himself and quickly reel back.

"WOWZERS! THOSE ARE SOME BIG TWISTERS!" Flynn exclaimed before he coughed into his hand. "Hmm… If we're gonna go here and get that Eternal Air Source thingamabob back, I'm gonna need something to push me… THROUGH this storm…"

"Like a propeller?" Cali asked dryly.

"No, nothing like that," Flynn shook his head back and forth and zoomed further when his eyes sparkled with inspiration, "I KNOW WHAT WE NEED—A PROPELLER!"

Cali rolled her eyes, let out the loudest groan known to mankind, and then proceeded to bury her head in her hands.

"Now, where to find one that can withstand those storms is the next question…" Flynn mumbled as he placed a hand on his chin.

"Now that I think about it." Cali withdrew her head from her hands and peered back at Flynn. "The Drow that patrol Sky Schooner Docks are rumored to have a zeppelin with a propeller made of literal gold! If it's real, it should be just the thing we need!"

"Then I know where we're going!" Chihiro shouted before she realized that she had attracted everyone's attention and hung her head. "Dang it, Hatsuki. You just couldn't help yourself, could you?"

Cali cocked her head in confusion, as did most others in this small crowd of magical creature, while Hugo gave Chihiro a scornful look.

"Chihiro, you were supposed to stay in the infirmary!" Hugo scorned as he shook a finger at Chihiro.

"Well, I'm feeling better now so there's no reason to stay there!" Chihiro stuck her tongue out at Hugo.

"Hugo, who is this?" Cali asked as she frowned slightly and tilted her head.

"This is—"

Hugo let out a shout of dismay as Chihiro pushed him aside and faced Cali.

"I'll handle the introduction, Huges," Chihiro said as she stretched a hand out to Cali. "Name's Chihiro Hatsuki, portal master extraordinaire as of yesterday apparently."

Cali curtly nodded her head before she shook Chihiro's limp hand. "Now, I've met a couple humans in my life, but I've never known of a single one in Skylands with five fingers!" Cali examined Chihiro's hand with wide-eyed fascination.

"That's because I'm not from here!" Chihiro retracted her hand and placed it clasped against her chest. "It's a long story."

"Anyways, introductions are great and all, but we need to get going! I'm sure that propeller won't be waiting for us all day!" Hugo chided as he shoved himself between Chihiro and Cali.

"You heard the man—er, mole," Chihiro exclaimed as she strode off towards the area where Flynn kept his balloon. "To the Docks we go!"

But before she could get there, Spyro grabbed Chihiro by the back of her shirt. Chihiro turned around and gave him a frustrated expression, mouth turned to a twisted frown, arms crossed and all the likes. But, Spyro just returned her expression right back with a stern frown.

"There is no way you're going there, not on my watch," Spyro said, his tone firm.

"Why not?" Chihiro asked as she pouted.

"It's too dangerous. You're way too young to be fighting serious battles and —"

"But you're not that much older that I am and YOU do it!" Chihiro poked Spyro's muzzle.

"But I AM more experienced," Spyro removed Chihiro's hand from his face and frowned. "Just stay here, okay? We can't lose another portal master so soon after we found them."

"FIINNEEE," Chihiro moaned as she stomped away.

Spyro flew over to the balloon and plopped down onto the grass next to it.

"Spyro!" shouted Gill Grunt as he zipped over and joined Spyro. "Think you could use some backup, ol' buddy ol' pal?"

"Are you sure, Gill?" Spyro asked with a look of slight hesitation. "You've been doing a lot of work today and—"

"Nonsense, Spy! I can't let my little buddy tackle dangerous missions like this on his own!" Gill gave Spyro a hearty pat on the back.

"I'm sure I'll be fine, Gill, I am—"

"Spyro, you may be one of the first and most experienced Skylanders and all, but you're still a kid." Gill Grunt coughed into his fin and gave Spyro a serious yet caring gaze. "You can't put all the work on yourself."

Spyro's eyes avoided Gill's gaze before he quietly nodded and gave Gill a weak smile. "Okay, I guess I wouldn't mind you tagging along."

"Great! So when do we shove off?" Gill Grunt asked as he cocked his harpoon cannon with a grin on his face.

"Whenever Flynn gets here, I guess." Spyro heard the sound of panting and teasingly smiled. "Speaking of the devil, there he is now."

Flynn joined Gill Grunt and Spyro and panted. He slouched over and rested his hands on his knees for a few minute, then he sprung up with a wry smile on his face.

"Ready to go on a flight with Skylands' best pilot in history?" Flynn asked.

"Of course," Spyro said as he playfully rolled his eyes.

And with that, the three of them walked into the balloon. Flynn untied the ropes that kept the balloon bound to the ground and they flew off, all hearts fully ready for the dangers that would befall them…

§About halfway through the trip…§

"So, how long until we're there?" Spyro asked as his eyes watched the islands pass by below them.

"We should be about halfway there, Robbie-O—" Flynn said as he spun the balloon's wheel.

"It's Spyro." Spyro continued to look down when he heard some kind of rumbling come from the floor below them and frowned. "What's that sound?"

Spyro moved away from the side of the basket and investigated the rest of the balloon. As he gazed over the door that lead to the balloon's storage compartment, the door rumbled and he scrambled back! His breath bated, Spyro watched in minute anticipation as the door rumbled even more…

Then slammed open as none other than Chihiro popped out!

"Wew! Sitting in the bottom floor of a hot air balloon's basket is no way to travel, let me tell you," Chihiro shouted as she crawled out from the balloon and slammed the door behind her. "So, are we there yet?"

Spyro's jaw practically dropped to the floor, as did the others before he gained the most frustrated look anyone had ever seen on him.

"CHIHIRO," Spyro shouted, almost beside himself with anger, "I TOLD YOU TO STAY AT THE ISLAND!"

Chihiro jumped for a bit before she turned around and scoffed.

"Well I'm the portal master and the portal master does what they want!" Chihiro crossed her arms and huffed once more. "Besides, if portal masters have all those fancy magic powers like you said, I'm sure I'll be fine!"

Spyro made what sounded like incomprehensible noises of frustration before he buried his head in his paws and moved to a corner of the balloon, all while he muttered to himself.

"So, what are we gonna do about the kid?" Flynn whispered as he looked at Gill Grunt.

"Well, we're too far ahead to go back now, so I guess she's coming with us for the mission," Gill Grunt said before he turned to look at Spyro. "What do you think, Spyro?"

Spyro took a deep breath, recollected himself, and joined the others.

"Gill's right." Spyro hesitantly sighed. "If we turn back now, it'll be dusk before we get to the docks. So I guess you're coming with us, Chihiro."

Upon hearing this, Chihiro squealed with joy and bounced up and down with a vigor and glee so great that the entire basket shook with every jump she made.

"Just make sure you don't get hurt aND QUIT DOING THAT!" Spyro grabbed Chihiro by her shoulders and forced her to stop bouncing, while the basket stilled once more.

"Sorry." Chihiro sheepishly giggled.

And with that, they continued their flight to the docks with an extra member in tow, the anticipation now even greater than before…